Marvel NOW! That Was Then: Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, Captain America and More to End in October

Today, Marvel Comics released it’s full list of solicits for October, and amidst the details for new beginnings like Uncanny Avengers #1, comes a whole heap of eviction notices. Accompanying phrases like “END OF AN ERA” and “EVERYTHING BURNS FINALE”, these solicits herald the conclusion of nine high profile ongoings, many of which will be replaced by new titles with new creative teams, adjectives, and M.O.s at some point in the future. Just how soon each renovation and re-christening will take, we don’t yet know.

So, let’s say so long, but not goodbye to:

CAPTAIN AMERICA #19
ED BRUBAKER (W) • STEVE EPTING (A&C)
Final Issue Variant Also Available
END OF AN ERA!
• Steve Epting returns for the grand finale of Ed Brubaker’s EPIC RUN on Captain America, and the end of an era!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

THE MIGHTY THOR #22
MATT FRACTION (W) • BARRY KITSON (A)
Cover by PASQUAL FERRY
Final Issue Variant Also Available
END OF AN ERA!
EVERYTHING BURNS AFTERMATHM • THE FINAL ISSUE…!
• After all the blood and thunder that’s rocked the nine realms someone has to pay.
• It will probably be Thor – the only Asgardian brave enough to face…THE DOOM RING.
• Who dares judge a god? Just wait and see who shows up…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #527
MATT FRACTION (W) • SALVADOR LARROCA (A&C)
Final Issue Variant Also Available
END OF AN ERA!
• Who lives? Who dies? Who wins? Who loses?
• More importantly: what’s next for Tony Stark and Iron Man? You won’t believe it until you read it!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

FANTASTIC FOUR #611
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • RYAN STEGMAN (A&C)
Susan G. Komen Variant Cover by JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
Final Issue Variant Also Available
FINAL ISSUE!
• Jonathan Hickman’s groundbreaking run comes to an end in this climactic issue!
32 PGS./Rated T …$2.99

FF #23
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • NICK DRAGOTTA (A)
COVER BY KALMAN ANDROSOFZSKY
Final Issue Variant Also Available
FINAL ISSUE!
• Jonathan Hickman wraps up his tenure as Old Franklin teaches Young Franklin “How To Be A God!”
32 PGS./Rated T …$2.99

X-MEN LEGACY #275
CHRISTOS GAGE (W) • DAVID BALDEON (A)
Cover by MARK BROOKS
Final Issue Variant Also Available
THE END OF AN ERA!
• Last issue, Magneto made Rogue a daunting offer. In this FINAL ISSUE of X-MEN: LEGACY, Rogue faces the repercussions of her decision!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

How my FF / Fantastic Fours are filed makes me itch if I think about them too long. Comics should be alphabetical by title and then numbered from there. Fact. But now I have FF #1 coming after Fantastic Four #588 but then I have Fantastic Four #600 coming after FF #12. And they’re interfiled from there.

Shortboxes by sub-universe, by banner’d event, alphabetically or by first issue #1, with trial balloons and mini-series in a “kill” box (they’re dead when they end). Four running shortboxes, “Indy”, “Avengers” (includes Cap, Iron Man, Thor titles), “Knights/Mutants” (everything else: Spidey, DD, Defenders, UXF, UMN, XMN, etc.), and “You’re Dead to Me”. File to longboxes when shortboxes too full to stuff. Unread “current” titles “up” in box (across the top). Vertical means I read it or I will someday in trades or maybe not. DC goes in a bag in the closet, to a longbox in the closet.

In the case of flagship or multi-volume titles, same M.O. in longboxes, viz. Thunderbolts and New Avengers, Civil War through Siege is in a longbox with everything else from Marvel from the Aughts, and the box says “Marvel: ’06 – ’10″ on the top and end in pencil, then later Sharpie.

I rarely dig into the longboxes. They’re by company, by era, with independents filling gaps in the DC boxes.

If I sell the stuff or read it again, I’ll do it by the half-decade anyway.

Let’s just say it. Renumbering an ongoing series after 20 issues is stupid. But, human nature being what it is a new #1 will obviously sell some amount more than a #21. I’m not just picking on Marvel here, DC had some hilarious renumbering with the New52 as well. Batman Inc & Dark Knight come to mind.

Player1: sorry if that came across as being sarcastic, but I’m just shocked that people aren’t clued up!
Neeks: it was confirmed end of last week that in January a new New Avengers series starts by Hickman & Epting!

I very, VERY recently got back into comic books. One of the first Marvel comics I got back into was Fantastic Four. (I dropped the book way back when JMS was writing it.) I have been reading all of Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four and FF via trades, so it’s still very fresh for me. (and I’ve been loving the hell out of it) Fantastic Four has always been one of my biggest loves, and when I say “suddenly concerned” I mean, I really want to know what’s next for my favorite family. ( I did not know he was leaving the book, and this was the first I had heard of a ‘final issue’)

I had no intentions of upsetting, or annoying anyone, so apologies all around.

From all the evidence I’ve seen, Marvel is just shuffling numbers — some books will end, some will just start new volumes. I’m sure the new creative teams will bring new approaches and styles, but I have yet to here anything that sounds like a reboot of the narrative continuity.

I’ve heard that’s Brubaker’s intent (to do more creator-owned). Hickman will still be very much immersed in mainstream Marvel, with eighteen or so cosmic Avengers to write. Haven’t heard what Fraction’s plans are.

I wish them all well, whatever they choose to do. I think Marvel readers have definitely benefitted greatly from the services they have rendered thus far. The legacies of Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and others have been renewed and enriched by a pretty talented group of writers, trying pretty hard to keep it all straight.

Most minis, including MAX, have “(of #)” in the solicits. Solicits for FuryMAX do not. If I remember correctly the word “miniseries” has not been said in any of the texts. No issue in October may just be to let the creative team have some time.

I’m just crossing my fingers that it’s also the end of the 3.99 era. Wake-up Marvel! You’ll sell a ton more books and won’t have to burn $$ on giant, gimick crossovers if you charged 2.99. I dropped just about every Marvel title due to 3.99 and twice-monthly.

agreed. if the digital copy is going to be their justification for the price increase going forward then they should offer the same books WITHOUT the digital code at a reduced price. give the consumer the choice to decide what they want

Marvel should do what DC does and charge $2.99 for most digital books, and for god’s sake drop the price to $1.99 after 1 month. Right now I’m lucky if Marvel drops the price after 8-12 months of a book coming out!

If Marvel still insists on $3.99 and not dropping price after a while, then I won’t be buying any of their new titles.

Pssst….there will be new Fantastic Four books. The series isn’t really cancelled forever, in fact one month after the above solicited issue there will be another issue. This new issue will acknoweldge all past history as well. Don’t tell anyone.

All three (four if you count Avenging) are pretty good right now, as are DD and Punisher.

That whole Spidey-verse/Marvel Knights corner of the MU-616 is in fine condition.

I’m sure they’ll do something to freshen it up as well.

Speaking of the Wacker-verse, it will be interesting to see what happens with A: EMH the cartoon and MUA: EMH the comic book, as well as Avengers Assemble the cartoon and Avengers Assemble the comic book. So far they haven’t made any decisions they can make public.

I wonder if Loeb, Yost or someone else will be show-runner for the new cartoon, who will do the writing, if there will be a comic book, what the name of the comic book will be, and who will be writing that.

As much as I’ve been enjoying New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy, I’m really excited to find out what the new launches are going to be!

And to the impressions of dismay I’m picking up from some of the other posters — I know we all liked Hickman on F4/FF, but do you REALLY believe Marvel isn’t going to publish a book with the Richards clan in November?

None of these characters are disappearing. Don’t mistake the baby for the bathwater.

Anyone else feel like making the X-Fam more immersed into the wider Marvel U is going to move them away from tropes that make them special in the first place? Racial segregation and inter-species politics and the like. I know we’ve had those stories for decades, but I dunno. Maybe im getting too old to enjoy change?

Ok ok…before New Mutants end, Nate Grey better have a breakout scene! I’m liking the direction that DnA have been taking him in, in that he’s the unrelatable dude that all of the team members snicker at/don’t take seriously. I also like the idea of him trying to come to terms with being only mildly powered after having the powers of a God before. It’s fun, but he’s been subtly written as of late and hasn’t had enough time devoted to these two things. I’m holding out for at LEAST one breakout scene before the series ends.

In general, I’m the MOST upset about New Mutants ending. I had hoped that it would be protected like X-Factor seems to be. Most of the other comics didn’t get past #25 before they got renumbered again. So, I guess congrats to New Mutants to making it to the ripe old age of 50!!

All things must pass. I haven’t bought single books for the better part of a decade and have only read tpb’s since. Might have to start up again. Pricing may be a deal breaker for me though. What they going for nowadays?

I wonder how Ron’s handling the end of Uncanny X-Men. Now I’m going to have *TWO* issues of Uncanny X-Men that has “FINAL ISSUE!” on the cover.
Other question is – what happens to those of us with subscriptions?

Let’s see, SDCC is next week? And Marvel is announcing what they will be doing this fall/winter/spring? And great writers who have done excellent runs on flagship books are switching franchises? And when top-flight talent is given a chance to bring a fresh approach to a decades-long ongoing, they’ll be allowed to do so with a new issue #1 and a fresh volume number? Some of the forked books will revert/re-couple/bifurcate? And my filing and numbering will be increasingly complex? But my subscriptions will still be honored and I’ll get the chance to follow my favorite creators to one of several sub-universes, each rich with up to half a century of lore to chose from and as many as eight thousand characters to explore?

Yes, there’s certainly much to decry and wring hands about in this summer’s announcement.

I wonder how many of the franchise splits they’ll keep in the new title mix.

That seems like the thing they did around the time of Fear Itself.

Their new thing seems to be an across-the-line thing.

Let’s get Avengers readers to care about mutants! And X-Men readers to care about Fantastic Four!

I expect to see a lot of adjectives applied to different franchises, now, a la, Invincible Hulk or Incredible Ant-Man or Astonishing Iron Man, or Banner, Pym and Stark forming Strange Avengers or something.

I don’t really care about the different titles in a single franchise. As long as the story and art is good, and the writer has a good vision of where he/she wants the story to go (ie. J. Hickman’s Fantastic Four), I’ll buy it.

If you call 28 issues out of 544 a decent slice. I would say 516 issues still sounds solid. Better than a lot of the other high number titles which celebrated 500-600 issues (i.e., Thor, Iron Man, etc) even though the first 80-100 were random tales of monsters and such.

In light of Jimski’s article the other day, I’ve gotta say — I’m totally fine with Marvel canceling books, and I like the approach they’re taking here.

See, I’m much more fond of letting a creative team finish off a storyline than an editorial board mucking around, kicking people off and replacing them mid-story like they’re interchangeable story machines. These endings all seem to represent creators getting to (hopefully) gently land the ship and bring their stories to a close.

And it gives US, the readers, a lot of credit. It’s Marvel saying, “look, screw numbering… we know we might lose some of you, but we think we can EARN you back with new books.”

That might be the optimistic way of looking at this, but it’s how I choose to see it. I’d rather the publisher try to get me to try favorite creators on new books and new concepts (like the Uncanny Avengers, for example), than for them to expect that I’ll just keep reading Cap because I have bought it for this long and it doesn’t matter what they do. No, if you’re going to put someone new on, say, IRON MAN, then sure — relaunch the book! Invite me in, make me feel like this creator is putting a relatively NEW spin on the character I’ve read for years, make it feel singular and re-energized. I think that’s the best approach when dealing with these long-term, serial characters.

I should also note that I don’t file my comics or keep them organized, so the idea of numbering changing doesn’t mean a THING to me. In this light, cancelations are the same as just changing the creative team. Better because they give me, as a reader, a solid breaking point if I want to drop the series.

If Marvel had a history of doing things for the fans, believing us to be smart I’d agree with you. Instead I’m wagering the line will be centered 3.99 books double shipping with diminishing quality of art and storylines.

Hickman’s Fantastic Four was the exception to the rule at Marvel, and even it got burned by bad art on a few storylines (Inhumans, anybody?).

Kudos though for wrapping up several of the books I get so I can get away from this sinking ship with fewer regrets.

“If Marvel had a history of doing things for the fans…” — cubsmodano, this is the kind of thinking that I never quite get. Or never choose to, perhaps. What is Marvel’s history of NOT doing things for fans? For every book you might cite as evidence, I’m sure someone else will say, “hey, that was the book that got me into Marvel.” Even you just said that Hickman’s book is the exception to the rule. Exception to whose rule?

Is double-shipping really not listening to fans? Or could you make the case that it’s EXACTLY listening to fans, who — when given the choice — will choose to buy three Spider-man issues instead of ONE Spider-man and two comics about lesser known characters? I’ve seen Marvel try both tactics — it’s pretty clear to me that they’re following that model of “what sells.” All those Deadpool books? Someone was buying them. They weren’t published because Marvel just felt like throwing around money.

I’m with Neums…Reboot does not mean slapping a new shiny number 1 on the cover. Was Daredevil just rebooted? Or did they make a fantastic creative and direction change for the character, and throw in a little marketing renumbering to boost the $$$? Putting a number 1 on something is to me, “renumbering”. Making a creative change in a book is called “business as usual”. Putting a banner across the top that says “Marvel NOW” or “The Heroic Age” is called “marketing”.

The New 52 or the new Spider-Man movie is, to me, a “reboot”, aka, starting over fresh.

Of course the New 52 has only been a partial reboot, with lots of continuity still mucking around, particularly in Batman and Green Lantern franchises. Not that I blame them (don’t break what is working) but it does kind of make a mess of things…

Thus the reason I called it a reboot with existing history (otherwise known as a relaunch, I was playing with words people).
Call it what you will, in the end it’s about making a big change to get sales!

We define these clearly because we, for the most part, are nerds. Like in films, I find there is a great distinction between ‘reboot’ and ‘remake’. But the average person does not… people talk about that Spider-man ‘remake’ and act like JJ Abram’s Star Trek is a ‘remake’. They aren’t.

I don’t understand the marketing on this. Why stop high-profile books in order to pitch some new ones with uncertain futures? I mean, taking a break is one thing, but this just seems fucking stupid to me. I don’t read any of those books, but Captain America, Iron Man, Thor… all big franchises and even more with the movies, is someone at Marvel gone mad!?

No, I think the are asking themselves “if a kid wants to purchase an Iron Man comic on his iPad after walking home from Iron Man 3, is he going to boy # 529 in an armor that doesn’t look like the movie? Or would it be better to see a shiny number 1, with a Marvel NOW banner across the front, and a character and setting that is recognizable from the movie?”

Plus Thor has been getting progressively worse since JMS left…certainly since Siege. Fear Itself killed any interest I had in the character. Getting a new direction is necessary. And from all accounts the same is true for Cap. The podcast seems to indicate it’s been getting stale for a while.

Constantly fucking up the numbers isn’t good for the industry. Yes it creates the illusion of “Come read me, I’m a #1, I’m easy to get into”, but we all know they’re going to re-fudge the numbers again when it’ll be the culminating issue 500 or title X… What would be better for the industry, in my opinion, would be shorter story arcs instead of 6 issue runs that are meant for the Trade Paperback market.

They could even sell it cheaper on the digital market and in bundles. Let’s say “Iron Man: Story Arc Part 1-2-3″ for 5$ on the Marvel App.

Anyway, I understand your points gentlemen, I just don’t think it’s a clever or even a good marketing strategy to revigorate the market.

@killtheg1mp I respectfully disagree (seriously, your opinion is valid and being civil on the Internet needs to be encouraged). I think it could create a stronger marketplace to acknowledge that an easier way to pull in more (some new, some lapsed, some casual) readers is via trades. If each big name book were. Written a la the Hellboy model, I think it would be easier to follow where in-story we are. If you’ve never read Iron Man before and you walked into a store with Invincible Iron Man #531 on the front, you may not be so willing to buy it as opposed to Iron Man: Revenge of the Mandarin #1. Anyway, I’m just not sure I understand the difference between a 3-part story and a 6-part story when both can be bundled and sold as one unit. Now, more one-shots is something I would like to see.

@MaxPower: sorry for the language, I’m on vacation this week and I guess my stress needs to evacuate somehow! I respect your point, it IS logical. I just don’t see how, in a LCS-format it could be viable. Finding trades in a store is one thing, figuring out whether Story Arc X issue Y must be read before Story Arc A issue B in an issue format of 22 pages is something else entirely.

I just think it would end up being more confusing for new and old readers alike!

Sorry to disagree, but my perception of it is that they SHOULD think of the trade paperback market, as it is a revenue stream for them, and represents an after-market for their print product, one with an extended shelf life, which provides more long-term income to the company and the possibility of longer-term royalties for creators.

Especially from a story point of view, where five 22-page or six 20-page comics represent around two hours of reading, and a proper length for complete development and resolution. In terms of the script or “screenplay” it’s an excellent length, analogous to a feature film or short novel.

@killtheg1mp I hear you and I touched on this in a response to a comment of yours below. Again, don’t think there are any real right or wrong answers here, but it is fun to discuss things we want to see!

In terms of individual issue numbering, sequential by volume on the cover is fine, since most books also indicate the arc and part somewhere in the issue, on the recap or letters page with the indicia, if not within the story or a title page.

If I want to start collecting Iron Man or Captain America or Spider-Man or Thunderbolts, I can find a jumping-on point, back issues, and collections of previous issues or volumes in most cases. On the Internet or at the library if not right there in the store.

I don’t see the point in cancelling Captain America alone and relaunching with a new #1. If they’re going to drop anything for good, and even though I’ve been enjoying it, Captain America & … would be a better choice to get axed.

Captain America and Teammate of the Arc still has the main volume numbering, but I expect to see it end and a new #1 when a sufficiently exciting creative team can be announced. Till then they might as well let Cullen Bunn finish whatever he’s already got done. A new issue number one is forthcoming, let me assure you.

It wouldn’t hurt them to let some of these bifurcated titles die back a bit.

People start to wonder if they need two or three or four books about the same group of characters, at four bucks a pop, double-shipping four times a year, especially when, as you say, some of them are just not really hitting their stride, or seem at best strained or half-hearted.

They need a new schtick. And here it is.

“Didn’t like all those forks? How about if anybody can be on any team? Huh?”

The solicits for Venom and Scarlet Spider aren’t there, so they might hold them for SDCC (as there is a panel for Wacker’s titles and that means ASM, Venom, SS, DD, Punisher and maybe one more that I can’t remember).

Most of those runs were winding down anyway, and their creators moving on isn’t a surprise. The only two I felt were on the ascendant were Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants. Said to see them go when Gillen was clearly laying seeds for a longer story.

The current AvsX was my jumping off point. There is no way to forgive the Xmen as they are written today. Comics used to have some moral center but now anything goes. Burn the archer to a crisp and toss him in a hole. Kidnap and torture those who don’t agree with you, even if they are family, or friends. These are not heroes but brownshirts.

Agreed, as per my above comment. We can still acknowledge the “milestone” issues if need be (#700 or whatever) if needed, but I would greatly prefer to buy X-Men: ‘insert story arc name’ # 1-6 and then move on to the next one.

I think the title-changes and re-numbering still has more to do with traditional respect being paid to arcane copyright and postal laws as well as marketing initiatives and sales strategies.

Also, too many low whole numbers can be just as boring/confusing/easy for distributors and retailers to completely @#$% up. Maybe not your LCS, but certainly Diamond, and certainly any non-specialty store, from Walmart to Barnes and Noble, or even your public library.

Almost nobody outside the comic book and gaming industries has any respect for the subtitle, or What Comes After the Colon is Part of the Name.

Ever heard the term “clusterfuck”? That’s exactly what it would become in less than a year. Numbers and volumes are essential in my opinion. How is a new reader going to get to read what was going on prior to story arc “X” without any indications?

The only viable alternative, would be to have year long volumes. Every year is a volume. So for most titles it would be “Volume 3: issues 1-12″, “Volume 4: issues 1-12″, that way, you would still be able to classify and put an order to it all and evade the above mentioned clusterfuck!

@killtheg1mp, well frankly, that’s part of the problem of getting new readers: requiring people to know what happened before they read the currently available issue. It could be beneficial to have each story arc not be overly dependent on what came before the current story. We all know who spider-man is, so here’s a story about Spidey and Doc Ock. That’s done, now here’s the next story about Spidey dealing with Mysterio or whomever. All you would need is the quick recap page in front saying Peter Parker is spider-man, he works at horizon labs and is dating this person, etc. and then tell a new and exciting story. People are afraid to dive into something with a lot of baggage and the current numbering system only reinforces that fear.

I think you just have to choose the level of engagement you expect to have with each publisher, and then within that relationship, the level of engagement you expect to have with certain editors, or sub-universes, or creators, or characters, or franchises.

I happen to buy a lot of Marvel, at this point in my life. About half of it comes in the mail. I expect them to honor the credit I have with them towards books that they do publish, when they cancel a title I subscribe to. If I let them know ahead of time, they’ll do what they can for me.

The rest of the stuff I get at the store. Sometimes I know ahead of time, sometimes I don’t. If I like something, I let the guy at the store know, or i order it from Marvel.

If I hear something is great, but I missed it, I go find the trade at the library, or maybe I go out and buy one.

And I keep shortboxes out for reading now. Four of them.

Otherwise, yeah. Buy what you like. Read what you like. Wonder how the @#$% other people file theirs.

@Player1 – All good advice, sir. But I’ve dipped my toe back in weeklies after several years out, and I’ve found, for me, the water to be freezing. I’m probably sticking with trades and the like for now. Some digital stuff, too.

Looks like Marvel is going a bit more Universe wide than what they first hinted at with the announcement of the initiative, so it will be interesting to see what else is revealed at SDCC and beyond. I’m interested to see the direction they’re taking the books, and I hope they can capture what some of DC’s books like Batman or Green Lantern have done where it’s accessible but also fresh and new while still acknowledging what came before. I hope we hear more about creative teams in the near future.

I had a feeling, with all of the Architects moving on, as well as some Hot Young Turks working their way into the mix, that this would be fairly universe-wide, affecting at least Avengers (four to six titles), FF/F4, TMT/JIM, Hulk/Incedible, Iron Man, the cap books, and some or several mutant titles.

I believe were talking Bendis, Brubaker, Hickman, Fraction, Aaron, Remender and Gillen, at least. That’s around 15 titles, by my reckoning. I expect more cancellations and relaunches, at, say SDCC next week.

I’m guessing for the books that will replace these, that the main artists will stay onboard. Hopefully not for Ryan Stegman, because I don’t like the Fantastic Four and I wanna read something with his art.

As gone through the October Solicitation, I’m trying really hard not to get angry cause a majority of books I read are cancel/ending, but the good news is – until they release the creative teams – there is a small chance I can finally pick up a Thor and Iron Man title again. It’s been too long.

Hopefully this time with artist that isn’t famous for their photo-references. Fingers crossed.

I think, if you put yourself in the position of editorial, you have to bow to marketing and allow events and crossovers, yet you want to allow your writers as much freedom as possible.

So when a group of your high-profile writers collectively reach a point where they feel they’ve done what they can with what they have to work with, you keep what titles you can afloat while seeking fresh proposals for flagship franchises.

If/when something exciting comes along, inform marketing and create a campaign around it, including a fresh volume number and minty new issue #1.

It’s not really that hard to understand. Nobody makes it their life’s work to ruin your funnybooks.

They’ll actually make pretty nice ones. And you don’t hafta buy anything you don’t like. A nice lady and her excellent team collect just about all of it.

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #645
Kieron Gillen (W) • STEPHANIE HANS (A&C)
EVERYTHING BURNS AFTERMATH
• Kieron Gillen bids farewell to the cast of JIM!
• “Why Did Loki Do It? No One Knows.” Until now.
• The critically acclaimed epic reaches its climax as Loki’s future and past collide and nothing will ever be the same again. No, really. We mean it this time. Stop looking at us like that.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

I wouldn’t give up hope just yet. I think Marvel said the relaunch is going to happen over several months, so it’s possible that JIM is just in a later wave (but Gillen has to come off the book because of new assignments that launch in an earlier wave). Two reasons I think this:

Also, in terms of story, every six issues these characters need six new problems.

They need to resolve those six problems, and fix a flaw in their character, within six issues.

Plus resolve a B story, as well as planting the seeds of the C, D and E stories.

Now do that for six hundred issues.

That would meaning solving thirty-six hundred personal problems, saving the world a hundred times, and fixing a hundred different character flaws by learning a hundred new things (or relearning them), in the space of (thanks to the sliding timescale) approximately ten years, viz. their Teens or Twenties.

Super heroes, indeed.

And we wonder why Wikipedia entries are so dense and marketing thinks they need fresh banners twice a year.

Ugh. The final issue of Fantastic Four? Again? Jesus. Enough with first issues and final issues. It is really is time to move to a season model. Then you get number 1 every fall. Numbers should only matter to story arcs anyway. I’ll still read the books if they are good, but enough with this stuff. It doesn’t bring in any new people.

That season model sounds like a great idea. Would make the filing a lot easier. Now I read my weekly comics and just put them in long boxes in alphabetical order and by week. Not caring about the numbering at al.

I’m totally on board with the season concept. But I think we’re essentially getting that in a lot of cases with the regular “First/Final Issue!” announcements. They’re basically season premieres/finales.

So the publishers would just need to acknowledge and formalize a season system (a la Hellboy, Casanova, Criminal). Maybe that’s easier said than done, but I think it’d be nice.

While none of this surprises me I do find this a big ‘F.U.’ to fans. I’m sorry but how many times has Marvel ‘ended’ or ‘renumbered’ these series over the last couple of years? It’s fucking ridiculous.

But the bigger news for the October solicts? (Which I’ll explore more if there’s an article on it)

Why… is this any kind of FU to fans?? This thinking boggles my mind. We all know they’re going to relaunch all of these characters in the following months, right?

I really, really, really don’t see the difference between announcing “New Arc, New Creative Team, New Beginning!” and just having a new number one issue. The new #1 is cleaner to me — actually respects fans MORE in my mind. Like, “we’re making it a new number one, so you can be sure it’s a clean jumping-on point to correspond with a new arc and new creators.” That makes sense to me, and doesn’t seem like any kind of middle finger type gesture.

But maybe that’s me, the reader who doesn’t look at the number on the cover.

Wolverine and the X-Men live! Crossover free! As do Daredevil and X-Factor!

Journey into Mystery may not be so lucky (the solicits seem to hint its ending – confirmation anyone?).

I will miss Fantastic Four/FF but Hickman’s run was stellar and will proudly sit next to my Byrne and Waid issues until some point in the distant future when they may be joined by others not written by Matt Fraction.

None of this interests me as much as the artists on New Mutants #50 is TBD. Could we possibly get a John Tyler Christopher drawn issue? That would be a nice send off. Either that or Diogenes Neves would be cool since he started the run with Zeb Well.s

Are they afraid to reach number 1000 in the comic industry ? For instance DC rebooted Action, Detective, Batman,… when they were close to reaching number 1000.
I think al this renumbering will be renumbered to the orignal numbers when they reach number 1000, see what happened with the Wolverine comics, renumbering to number 1 and then suddenly it was number 300…

I know that Hickman and Brubaker are leaving F4 & Cap respectively with the renumbering. Can someone tell me if Fraction is leaving Invincible Iron Man, because the current story really feels like it’s wrapping everything up and that cover really looks like one of those conclusion covers.

Seems monumentally unnecessary, especially for titles running for less than two years on their current numbering. It seems like just the other day they were announcing Captain America #1 as a whole new era, the beginning of blah de blah blah!? However, on a more positive note, that cover for X-Men Legacy is beautiful.

Last year I was casual reader who only read Captain America, Secret Avengers and Daredevil and read Morrison books in trade. I wouldn’t pick up anything else because I didn’t want to try a issue 427. It was intimidating and I didn’t want to start in the middle of something.

The DC Reboot and various #1s at Marvel got me to branch out when I never would have before. Now A year later I pull 25-30 books a month from 5 companies. My increased interest got me into this website and now the numbers don’t intimidate me as much (like starting at issue 92 of Invincible or 17 for Uncanny X-Force). Since reading a greater number of books I’m now exposed to more Artists and Writers than Ed Brubaker and Epting. Now I pick up books based on writers and artists rather than just characters I’m interested in.

New number 1s is a GOOD THING! Every 50-100 or so issues I think every title should renumber for a new series. Not reboot but renumber. Not everyone will go from 3 to 30 like I did but it gives casual readers the extra push to become committed comic book fans.

Woo-hoo! No more Uncanny X-men! Sorry. I’ve been enjoying the title, but the thought of my planned exit from Avengers and New Avengers AND a double-shipping book along with cutting some dull DC titles, I have a bit more freedom to pick other non-cape titles I’m interested in reading.

After DC’s relaunch and Marvel’s recent restarts (Cap and ___, Fant4 is gone!, Now it’s back! Now it’s gone again! in particular), I could care less about numbering, although I do think it’s critical. If #1′s get new readers, fine. But it’s the existing readers that always suffer for it. And the real tragedy: the people that pick up the above books (I’m not necessarily referring to anyone who reads this site) will most likely pick up the next versions in hopes that the new #1s are better than when they ended. Then again, DC’s relaunch – not only of books but creator shuffles – got some of my money and still gets it to this day. It’s all publicity. Let it ride.

This sounds suspiciously like Marvel sticking their toe gently into New 52 territory here. I don’t read any of these books and won’t add any of these to my pull list. Marvel of late has a history of burning readers with renumbered titles, “killing”characters and really dropping the ball on their mega events (great premise, good build up and always ending with a hollow finale) When your #1 selling title is a mega event with 800 million variant covers and the distinguished competition is kicking your tail you better start looking for a new way to gain back your foothold in the hobby…originality is what the house of ideas was built on, and during the Quesada reign of terror that principle has been all but forgotten